Method for producing indicators and processing apparatus and system utilizing the indicators

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a method for producing graphical indicators and interactive systems for utilizing the graphical indicators. On the surface of an object, visually negligible graphical indicators are provided. The graphical indicators and main information, i.e. text or pictures, co-exist on the surface of object. The graphical indicators do not interfere with the main information when the perception of human eyes are concerned. With the graphical indicators, further information other than the main information on the surface of object are carried. In addition to the main information on the surface of object, one is able to obtain additional information through an auxiliary electronic device or trigger an interactive operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for producingindicators and processing apparatus and system utilizing the indicators,and more particularly, to a method, an apparatus and a system forproviding additional information from the indicators affixed onto thesurface of an object.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Dating back to ancient time, people start delivering informationby recording information on surfaces of various objects. For example,since the birth of paper, people acquire the information throughcharacters and drawings affixed on papers. Furthermore, in recent years,with distinctive colors, characters, or pictures attached to differentlocations on surface of an object, people try to disclose theinformation with regard to each different position of the object.

[0005] When people observe the surface of object, they generally capturethe information visually. However, the amount or types of theinformation carried by the surface of object are generally limited underthe restrictions of the area size, beautification of the surface.

[0006] Nowadays, due to the advance of electronic technology, the visualinformation has been retrieved from its original carrier and stored asthe digital information in an electronic apparatus. And people read themdirectly from the electronic apparatus. However, it is difficult for thedigital information to totally replace the information printed in booksor information attached to the surface of object.

[0007] On the other hand, through hyper link approach of computertechnology, the digital information can be displayed in multipledimensions, while the information printed in book or attached to theobject still are displayed in two dimensions. Thus, if multipledimensions information can be recorded on the book or the object, peoplecan acquire additional information through the electronic apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method forproducing graphical indicators. Some visually negligible graphicalindicators are affixed on the surface of an object. The graphicalindicators co-exist with main information, such as a text or picture, onthe surface of object, and do not interfere with the perception of humaneyes to the main information. A user retrieves the graphical indicatorsthrough an electronic system that does not couple with the object andacquires additional information from the graphical indicators.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus anda system utilizing the graphical indicators. The apparatus or the systemincludes an optical-reading device, a processing device, and an outputdevice. The optical-reading device captures an image including thegraphical indicators from the surface of object, the processing deviceretrieves the image to acquire the corresponding additional information,and the output device outputs the additional information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1(A) is a schematic diagram illustrating the graphicalindicators on the surface of object in accordance with the presentinvention;

[0011]FIG. 1(B) is an enlarged diagram illustrating one of the graphicalindicators in FIG. 1(A);

[0012]FIG. 1(C) is a schematic diagram illustrating the combination ofthe graphical micro-units in FIG. 1(B) converting into the bit array;

[0013]FIG. 1(D) is a schematic diagram illustrating the two-dimensionalmatrix form in accordance with the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 1(E) is an enlarged diagram illustrating the index zones andthe graphical indicators in accordance with the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 1(F) illustrates the image corresponding to the matrix formof the graphical indicators converted into a bit matrix form inaccordance with the present invention;

[0016] FIGS. 2(A)-2(C) are the diagrams illustrating various embodimentsin accordance with the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 2(D) is the diagram illustrating other embodiment for thearrangement of the graphical indicators in accordance with the presentinvention;

[0018]FIG. 2(E) is the diagram illustrating the different graphicalindicators arranged in a index zone in accordance with the presentinvention;

[0019]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic system inaccordance with the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating the operation of theelectronic system in accordance with the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the processing system in accordancewith the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the electronicapparatus in accordance with the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of theelectronic apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating one practicalapplication in accordance with the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the additionalinformation used for controlling a response device in accordance withthe present invention;

[0026]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the application of thepresent invention to information appliances;

[0027]FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the additionalinformation used to control other devices;

[0028]FIG. 12(A) is a graph illustrating the conventional bar code inthe prior art; and

[0029]FIG. 12(B) is a graph illustrating use of indicators of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0030] The present invention provides a method for producing graphicalindicators and interactive systems for utilizing the graphicalindicators. Some visually negligible graphical indicators are affixed onthe surface of an object. The graphical indicators co-exist with a maininformation, such as a text or picture, on the surface of object, and donot interfere with the perception of human eyes to the main information.A user retrieves the graphical indicators through an electronic systemand acquires additional information from the graphical indicators. Theuser can utilize the graphical indicators without a complicated platformproviding coordinate system. Furthermore, the typical book or thesurface of object can carry more information through the graphicalindicators.

[0031] Exemplary Design for the Graphical Indicators

[0032] In the present invention, one aspect of the graphical indicatorsis that the graphical indicators are so visually negligible that do notinterfere with the main information on the surface of object. Anotheraspect of the graphical indicators is that the graphical indicators arenot interfered by the other information on the surface when theelectronic system reads the graphical indicators.

[0033] For the visually negligible feature of graphical indicator, eachgraphical indicator includes multiple graphical micro-units arranged ina layout. Shown in FIG. 1(A), which has scale of 2.5:1, the combination100 of the graphical micro-units in a background to “APPLE” is thematrix consisting of graphical micro-units. The micro-units can bereduced further such that the combination 100 of the graphicalmicro-units is visually negligible or is viewed as a background materialby human eyes.

[0034] In practical application, the shape of the graphical micro-unitsmay be regular or irregular shape, such as a round spot. For bestresult, the graphical micro-unit must be so tiny that only a microscopeapparatus can detect it.

[0035] When the graphical micro-units are tiny and arranged loosely inthe layout, the user easily neglects the combination 100 of graphicalmicro-units and pays attention to main information, like the word“APPLE” depicted in FIG. 1(A). Next, we explain how to use the graphicalindicator to carry information.

[0036] The combination 100 of the graphical micro-units consists ofmultiple graphical indicators arranged in sequence. Each graphicalindicator includes multiple state zones for selectively respectivelystoring the graphical micro-units, wherein each of the state zonesdisplays a state from at least two candidate states.

[0037] For example, shown in FIG. 1(B) is an enlarged diagramillustrating one of the graphical indicators in FIG. 1(A). The graphicalindicator 11 includes 36 units of state zones 113 in the form of 6 by 6matrix. Each state zone 113 selectively includes one graphicalmicro-unit or does not include the graphical micro-unit to represent thefirst or second state.

[0038] When the micro-units in state zone 113 of the first state areassigned value of one and those of the second state are assigned valueof zero, a bit matrix form 114 shown in FIG. 1(C) is resulted. Thus, thebit matrix form 114 stores a variety of information as expected ordesired. In other word, the user can store desired information based onthe combination of different values of the state zones.

[0039] Furthermore, the multiple graphical indicators, as well as thegraphical micro-units, are arranged in two-dimension matrix forms. Sucharrangements of the graphical indicators and the graphical micro-unitslook homogenous to human eyes. Next, the present invention provides amethod for retrieving the individual graphical indicator from the matrixform of the graphical indicators.

[0040] Shown in FIG. 1(B), which has scale of 100:1, the graphicalindicator 11 includes a header information 111 and a content information112 arranged in a layout that corresponds to different indicatorinformation. In one embodiment, all header information 111 are identicalamong different graphical indicators 11. On the other hand, differentvalue of content information 112 represents different indicatorinformation. Thus, one graphical indicator 11 is read through capturingone header information 111, and the graphical indicator 11 does notinterfere with each adjacent graphical indicator 11. However, in anotherembodiment, the header information 111 in one graphical indicator 11 maybe different from that of other graphical indicator 11 as long as thesystem can use the header information to retrieve the correspondingcontent information.

[0041]FIG. 1(D), which has scale of 120:1, is a schematic diagramillustrating the two-dimensional matrix form in accordance with thepresent invention. The user first searches the header information 111and further retrieves the graphical indicator 11 and the correspondingcontent information 112.

[0042] Furthermore, in order to rapidly retrieve the indicatorinformation, the image corresponding to the matrix form of the graphicalindicators is rotated and converted into bit matrix form, shown in FIG.1(F) during the process.

[0043] Furthermore, we divide the surface of object into multiple indexzones. Each zone corresponds to an index value. The graphical indicatorcorresponding to identical indicator information is repeatedly arrangedin each index zone. The graphical indicator corresponding to differentindicator information is repeatedly arranged in different index zones.The system maker of the invention records the corresponding relationshipof the indicator information to the index zone in an electronicapparatus. When the electronic apparatus captures an image from a indexzone, it can acquire the index value of the zone using the correspondingrelationship.

[0044] For example, FIG. 1(E), which has scale of 20:1, is an enlargeddiagram illustrating the index zones and the graphical indicators inaccordance with the present invention. The graphical indicators 11corresponding to same indicator information are arranged in the indexzone 12. The graphical indicators corresponding to different indicatorinformation are respectively arranged in the other index zones.

[0045] Other embodiment for the graphical indicators is possible. Forexample, FIGS. 2(A)-2(C) are the diagrams illustrating other embodimentsfor the graphical indicators in accordance with the present invention.Shown in FIGS. 2(A)-2(C), a vertical segment represents the first state,and a horizontal segment represents the second state.

[0046] Furthermore, FIG. 2(D) is the diagram illustrating otherembodiment for the arrangement of the graphical indicators in accordancewith the present invention. Different from the matrix arrangement inFIGS. 1(A)-1(F), a cellular arrangement is set forth in FIG. 2(D).

[0047] Alternately, different graphical indicators may also be arrangedin one index zone as shown in FIG. 2(E). The letters “A”, “B”, “C”, and“D” respectively represent four different graphical indicatorscorresponding to four different indicator information. These fourdifferent graphical indicators are repeatedly arranged in sequencewithin one index zone, shown in FIG. 2(E).

[0048] There are requirements for the graphical indicators beingnegligible to human eyes. First, each graphical indicator must be tinyand human eyes can not differentiate one graphical indicator fromothers. Second, according to the size of the graphical micro-unit, thepitch between micro-unit, and the desired visual effect, one shouldreduce the number of the graphical micro-units used. In this way, thegraphical indicators have little influence on the brightness of thesurface of object. Furthermore, number of graphical micro-units of eachgraphical indicator is substantially equal to each other, and thereforethe graphical indicators look more homogenous to human eyes and becomeinvisible to human eyes.

[0049] In a first embodiment, each square centimeter of the selectedzone includes more than 3000 state zones of which less than seventypercent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupied by thegraphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than 80.

[0050] In a second embodiment, each square centimeter of the selectedzone includes more than 6000 state zones of which less than seventypercent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupied by thegraphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than 80.

[0051] The following provides the methods for capturing the graphicalindicators by an electronic system without interference with maininformation on the surface of object. First, a method utilizing infraredray and oil ink is illustrated below.

[0052] While printing an information on conventional media, a desiredcolor is obtained by combining primitive color inks: cyan (C), magenta(M), yellow (Y), and black (K). Generally, hue and saturation areobtained by adjusting combination of C, Y, and M, and brightness isobtained by adjusting K.

[0053] It is noted that infrared ray has high transmittance for most ofC, M, Y primitive color inks, but has low transmittance for most of Kcolor inks. In other words, C, M, Y color inks hardly absorb theinfrared ray, but black color ink substantially absorbs the infraredray. Therefore, infrared ray transmits tlrough most of C, M, Y colorinks and displays high brightness after reflecting from a light-colouredobject surface under C, M, Y color inks. On the contrary, the surfacethat is printed in black color ink displays low brightness because ofthe absorption of the infrared ray by most of black color ink. Thus,when a detector receives an image corresponding to graphical indicatorsprinted in most of black color ink, the image does not interfere withmain information printed in most of C, M, Y color inks.

[0054] On the other hand, when the main information needs to be printedin black, one type of black color, in the specification we called itNear_K, which hardly absorbs infrared ray, is used to print the maininformation. Mixing C, M, Y colors under predetermined ratio makesNear_K that displays visual black, such as dark indigo or dark brown.The ratio for mixing C, M, Y colors to obtain Near_K color is well knownto the people skilled in the art. Since Near_K is made by C, M, Y colorinks, Near_K is transmittable by infrared ray. And, to cooperate withthis arrangement, the graphical indicators are printed using K (black)color.

[0055] In the above description, the black color is used for an example,however, it is not a limitation. Other inks that can substantiallyabsorb the infrared ray can be used to print graphical indicators. Thisapproach has advantage of low cost. It is to be noted that any type ofoil ink, no matter what color it shows, that could substantially absorbinfrared ray, are suitable for the print of graphical indicator and areintended scope of protection of present application. Any types of oilink, that are transmittable by infrared and are close to black visually,i.e. some oil ink of edibility-class without carbon element, can also beused as Near-K color. Near-K color may act as role of black color offour primitive colors (C,M,Y,K) while printing the main information overthe surface.

[0056] On the other end, it is known that most oil inks absorbultra-violent or blue light. That is, they do not produce light invisible spectnim when irradiated by ultra-violent or blue light.However, special type ink, such as fluorescent ink, produces visualimage under the irradiation of ultra-violet or blue light. Thus, underthis approach, the graphical indicators are printed in fluorescent ink,and the main information is printed in a typical oil ink. To cope withthe arrangement, ultra-violent or blue light is used to irradiate thesurface of object while reading the image. Afterwards, thenon-interference image can be obtained by implementing an optical filterfor filtering out unwanted spectrum portion.

[0057] Another method is to directly use visual light. Since there aremany graphical indicators that are not overlapped with the maininformation, as long as the detector detects single graphical indicator,the indicator information can be obtained.

[0058] There are more than one approach to generate indicatorinformation. For example, the additional information is encoded into theindicator information by method of compressed encoding. When theelectronic system retrieves the indicator information, it acquires theadditional information by decoding the indicator information.

[0059] Another way to obtain the additional information from theindicator information is using a mapping unit stored in the electronicsystem. The embodiments of the mapping unit include a database or alookup table, etc. Actual implementations for the mapping unit include ahard disk, a floppy disk, a compact disk, a read-only memory, or amemory card. The electronic system acquires the additional informationcorresponding to the indicator information through the mapping unit.

[0060] Exemplary Electronic System Utilizing the Graphical Indicators

[0061]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic system 31in accordance with the present invention. The electronic system 31includes an optical device 311, i.e. an image acquiring device, aprocessing device 312, i.e. an image-processing circuit, and an outputdevice 313, i.e. an output circuit. The processing device 312 is wiredor wireless coupled to the optical device 311. Similarly, the processingdevice 312 is wired or wireless coupled to the output device 313.

[0062]FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating the operation of theelectronic system in accordance with the present invention. The opticaldevice 311 captures an image from the surface of object (step 41) thatincludes the graphical indicator. Next, the processing device 312retrieves the graphical indicator from the image (step 42) and acquiresthe additional information corresponding to the graphical indicator(step 43). The output device 313 receives the additional informationfrom the processing device 312 and outputs the additional information(step 44).

[0063]FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the processing system in accordancewith the present invention. The main information is printed on thesurface of an object 51. The main information in the embodiment includesmultiple icons 511 and corresponding illustrations 513. Such maininformation is generally used in a typical language-learning book orchildren-teaching book. The object is made of plastic, paper, or anyprintable carriers.

[0064] In addition, the surface of object 51 includes multiple indexzones on which respective icons 511 and illustrations 513 are affixed.In particular, the index zone corresponding to the icon 511 is printedwith multiple identical graphical indicators 512. To illustrate clearly,the graphical indicator 512 is visible. But in actual practice, thegraphical indicator 512 may be so tiny as to be non-visible to humannaked eyes.

[0065] In this embodiment, the icon 511 is directly captured by humaneyes 52. In addition, the electronic system 31 is used to acquire theadditional information corresponding to the graphical indicator 512.

[0066] As the electronic system 31 is directed to a zone to that thegraphical indicator 512 is affixed, the optical device 311 captures theimage including the graphical indicator 512 and transfers the image tothe processing device 312. Then the processing device 312 retrieves thegraphical indicator 512 from the image and acquires the additionalinformation corresponding to the graphical indicator 512. In theembodiment, the additional information includes audio information, suchas pronunciations of horse in English or other visual information, suchas illustration of horse. Then the output device 313 outputs the audioinformation with a speaker 3131 and the visual information with adisplay panel 3132. In addition, other types of information sensible byhuman being, such as olfactory or tactual information, can also beoutputted.

[0067]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating details of theelectronic apparatus in accordance with the present invention. In theembodiment, the electronic apparatus includes an optical-reading device61, an image-processing circuit 62, and an output circuit 63. Theoptical-reading device 61 includes one or more sensor units 611 and oneor more active light source 612. The exemplary sensor unit 611 includessensor micro-units, such as charge couple devices (CCD) or CMOS sensorunits. In the embodiment, the image-processing circuit 62 includes adigital signal processor 621 (DSP) and a read-only memory card (ROMcard) 622. The read-only memory card (ROM card) 622 functions as amapping unit.

[0068]FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 together illustrate the operation of embodiment.FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the operation of theelectronic apparatus in FIG. 6. The active light source 612 of theoptical-reading device 61 irradiates active light beam 613 onto thesurface of object 64 (step 71). The surface of object 64 absorbs theportion of the active light beam 613 and reflects or scatters the light.The sensor unit 611 captures the scattered light 614 through subsequentlens 615 and an optic filter 616 to form an image (step 72) and convertsthe image into electronic information (step 73).

[0069] The sensor unit 611 transfers the electronic information to theimage-processing circuit 62 for image processing purpose. Theimage-processing circuit 62 extracts the combination of the graphicalmicro-units from the electronic information (step 74). The exemplarycombination of the graphical micro-units is denoted as 100 in FIGS. 1(A)to 1(E). Next, the image-processing circuit 62 converts the combinationof the graphical micro-units into the numeral codes (step 75). Forexample, the combination of the graphical micro-units in FIG. 1(B)converts into the bit array shown in FIG. 1(C). Then theimage-processing circuit 62 retrieves the indicator informationaccording to the numeral codes (step 76) and further acquires theadditional information corresponding to the indicator information (step77). In the embodiment, the ROM card 622 stores the mapping relationshipof the indicator information and the additional information. The digitalsignal processor 621 executes the image process above-mentioned.

[0070] Next, the output circuit 63 outputs the additional information(step 78). In the embodiment, the additional information is audioinformation. The output circuit 63 includes a speaker that outputs theaudio information corresponding to the zone on the surface of objectirradiated by the active light source 612.

[0071] Alternatively, the read-only memory card (ROM card) 622 per seincludes a built-in digital signal processor. Under this arrangement,the mapping unit, i.e. read-only memory card (ROM card) 622, retrievesadditional information corresponding to the indicator informationresponsive to the command from digital signal processor 621.

[0072]FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating one practicalapplication in accordance with the present invention. In the embodiment,the optical device includes an input pen 81. The processing device isembedded in a general-purpose computer 82 and is programmable. Theoutput device includes a monitor 831 and a speaker 832. The book 80 hasthe graphical indicators of the present invention at predeterminedlocations, and a disc 821 is accompanied with the book 80. When the userdirects the input pen 81 to the selected zone of the book 80, such aszone at which “BOOK” is printed, the optical device of the input pen 81captures the image of the selected zone and transfers it to thegeneral-purpose computer 82 run by the program in the disc 821. Thegeneral-purpose computer 82 processes the image and acquires theadditional information under control of the disc 821, and retrieves theadditional information. The additional information includes theexplanation of the graphical indicators retrieved and the audioinformation. Next, the monitor 831 coupled to the general-purposecomputer 82 outputs an illustration 834, as well as the speaker 832outputs the audio information.

[0073] Furthermore, the additional information may also include commandsfor controlling other interactive devices.

[0074] Application for Input of Information

[0075]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the additionalinformation used for controlling a responsive device in accordance withthe present invention. The surface of object 90 includes multiple indexzones, and each index zone has one main information 9011, such asalphanumeric information on a conventional key cap. Furthermore, onedesired graphical indicator 9012 is affixed to the same index zone.

[0076] The optical device of an electronic system 91 captures the imageincluding the graphical indicator 9012. The processing device of theelectronic system 91 retrieves the graphical indicator 9012 from theimage and acquires the additional information corresponding to thegraphical indicator 9012. The additional information is a commandcorresponding to the main information 9011. The electronic system 91transfers the command to a response device 92. For instance, theresponse device 92 may be an audio device capable of generating sound ofcorresponding piano key. Under the same concept while altering thepatterns, the object 90 may easily become a computer keyboard orcalculator keyboard. The response device 92 may include mobile phone,personal digital assistant, notebook, and other electronic devices.

[0077]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the application of thepresent invention to information appliances. An interactive television101 is equipped with a set top box 1011 for receiving user-interactivecommands. A brochure 103 provided by cable TV program supplier isdesigned to include the graphical indicator of the invention. When theuser selects one program 104 with an input device within the remoteselector 102, the input device retrieves the graphical indicator fromthe image of the program 104 and acquires the additional informationcorresponding to the graphical indicator. In the embodiment, theadditional information is a command to the set top box 1011. The outputdevice in the remote selector 102 is an infrared emitter fortransferring the command to the set top box 1011. Thus, the presentinvention provides an input solution for the interactive television 101.

[0078] Application for Control Function

[0079] Besides visual, olfactory or vibrating effects, the additionalinformation includes controlling commands. FIG. 11 is a schematicdiagram illustrating the additional information used to control otherdevices. As indicated, a response device 1001 includes puppets 10011,10012, 10013, word-line display panel 10014, and display panel 10015. Ascript book 10018 is provided to include the graphical indicatorscorresponding to the contents. The user selects the specific contentwith the electronic device 10016. For example, if the user would like tohave a sunny day displayed in the display panel 10015, he or shecaptures the corresponding graphical indicator on the script book 10018using the electronic device 10016. The electronic device 10016 retrievesthe graphical indicator and acquires the corresponding additionalinformation. The additional information is the command 10017 transmittedfor controlling the response device 1001. The electronic device 10016transfers the command 10017 to the response device 1001 through wirelessor infrared transmission. The response device 1001 displays the sunnyday on the display panel 10015 in response to the command 10017.

[0080] As the electronic device 10016 is denoted to a dialogue 10019,the electronic device 10016 retrieves the graphical indicatorscorresponding to the dialogue 10019 and then acquires a command ofadditional information. The electronic device 10016 transfers thecommand to the response device 1001 and the puppet 10012. The responsedevice 1001 displays the dialogue 10019 on the word-line display panel10014, and the puppet 10012 speaks dialogue when making the action.

[0081] Substitute for Bar Code

[0082] The feature of the present invention is different fromconventional bar code. FIG. 12(A) is a graph illustrating theconventional bar code 10001 in the prior art. FIG. 12(B) is a graphillustrating use of indicators 10002, 10003 of the present invention. Inone embodiment, the information implicitly stored in the conventionalbar code 10001 is now stored in the graphical indicator 10002 providedby the invention, and the information of an editor or a writer is storedin the graphical indicator 10003 provided by the invention. Thegraphical indicators 10002, 10003 do not interfere with other maininformation on the surface 10000.

[0083] Application for Coordinate Positioning System

[0084] This invention may be implemented into a coordinate positioningsystem as index value mentioned above is a coordinate value when acoordinate system is predefined over the surface. Under thisapplication, the coordinate positioning system allows a user to makepositioning action over a surface of an object while the surfaceincluding a main information. The coordinate positioning system includesa coordinate system and a device.

[0085] The coordinate system, implemented over the surface, includesmultiple coordinate zones. Each coordinate zone includes at least avisually negligible graphical indicator, and the graphical indicatorincludes multiple graphical micro-units co-existing with the maininformation over the surface without interference with the maininformation. The multiple graphical micro-units are arranged in a layoutin the graphical indicator, the layout corresponds to an indicatorinformation indicating a coordinate value of each coordinate zone. Thedevice is used for capturing the layout from the graphical indicator,retrieving the coordinate value responsive to the layout, and providinga response in response to the coordinate value.

[0086] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device may be made while retainingthe teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure shouldbe construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A processing system comprising: an optical devicefor capturing an image from a selected zone on a surface of an object bya user, wherein the image includes a graphical indicator that isvisually negligible and is affixed on the surface of the object; aprocessing device coupled to the optical device for receiving the image,the processing device retrieving the graphical indicator from the imageand acquiring an additional information corresponding to the graphicalindicator; and an output device coupled to the processing device foroutputting the additional information.
 2. The processing system of claim1, wherein the graphical indicator comprises a plurality of graphicalmicro-units arranged in a layout, the layout corresponds to an indicatorinformation, the processing device analyses the layout of the graphicalmicro-units to retrieve the indicator information and further to acquirethe additional information from the indicator information.
 3. Theprocessing system of claim 2, wherein each graphical indicator occupiesvery small amount of area, and each graphical micro-unit occupies verysmall amount of area, and number of graphical micro-units of eachgraphical indicator is substantially equal to each other.
 4. Theprocessing system of claim 2, wherein the surface of the objectcomprises a main information that overlaps and co-exists with thegraphical micro-units on the surface of the object, wherein thegraphical micro-units are negligible when the user observes the maininformation.
 5. The processing system of claim 4, wherein the graphicalindicator comprises a plurality of state zones for selectivelyrespectively storing the graphical micro-units, wherein each of thestate zones displays a state from at least two candidate states.
 6. Theprocessing system of claim 5, wherein the candidate states comprise afirst state and a second state, as in the first state, the state zoneincludes one graphical micro-unit, and as in the second state, the statezone does not include the graphical micro-unit.
 7. The processing systemof claim 6, wherein each square centimeter of the selected zone includesmore than 3000 state zones of which less than seventy percent are in thesecond state, and percentage of area occupied by the graphicalmicro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 8. The processing systemof claim 6, wherein each square centimeter of the selected zone includesmore than 6000 state zones of which less than seventy percent are in thesecond state, and percentage of area occupied by the graphicalmicro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 9. The processing systemof claim 6, wherein the state zones are arranged in a two-dimensionalmatrix form and the graphical indicator comprises a header informationand a content information, the plurality of header information areidentical among different graphical indicators.
 10. The processingsystem of claim 4, wherein each graphical micro-unit is printed in anink that substantially absorbs infrared ray, and the main information isprinted in an ink that hardly absorbs infrared ray, and the opticaldevice emits infrared ray onto the surface of the object and thenreceives a response image from the surface of the object as the image.11. The processing system of claim 10, wherein the ink is a black oilink, while the main information is printed in a Near-K ink that hardlyabsorb infrared ray.
 12. The processing system of claim 4, wherein eachgraphical micro-unit is printed in a fluorescent ink, and the maininformation is printed in a typical oil ink, the optical device emittingultraviolet ray or blue ray onto the surface of the object and thenreceiving a response image from the surface of the object as the image.13. The processing system of claim 4, wherein the surface of the objectcomprises multiple index zones, each index zone corresponds to one indexvalue, and multiple identical graphical indicators are arranged in eachindex zone.
 14. The processing system of claim 1 further comprising amapping unit indicating mapping relationship of the indicatorinformation and the additional information, the processing device beingcoupled to the mapping unit to retrieve one additional informationcorresponding to the indicator information.
 15. The processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the additional information comprises a multi-mediainformation, and the output device outputs the multi-media informationto the user.
 16. The processing system of claim 1, wherein the graphicalindicator is recorded in a vehicle that is affixed onto the surface ofthe object.
 17. The processing system of claim 1 further comprising amapping unit indicating mapping relationship of the indicatorinformation and the additional information, the mapping unit retrievesone additional information corresponding to the indicator information.18. A method for producing a graphical indicator on a surface of anobject, a user reading an image from a selected zone of the surface ofthe object with an electronic system, the electronic system retrievingthe graphical indicator and outputting an additional information fromthe graphical indicator, the method comprising: mapping an indicatorinformation to the graphical indicator that is visually negligible, thegraphical indicator comprising a plurality of state zones forselectively respectively storing a plurality of graphical micro-units,and each of the state zones selecting a state from at least twocandidate states; and affixing the graphical indicator onto the surfaceof the object.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the surface of theobject comprises a main information which overlaps and co-exists withthe graphical micro-units are negligible when the user observes the maininformation.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein each graphicalindicator occupies very small amount of area, and each graphicalmicro-unit occupies very small amount of area, and number of graphicalmicro-units of each graphical indicator is substantially equal to eachother.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein each square centimeter of theselected zone includes more than 3000 state zones of which less thanseventy percent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupiedby the graphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 22. Themethod of claim 18, wherein each square centimeter of the selected zoneincludes more than 6000 state zones of which less than seventy percentare in the second state, and percentage of area occupied by thegraphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 23. The methodof claim 19, wherein each graphical micro-unit is printed in an ink thatsubstantially absorbs infrared ray, and the main information is printedin an ink that hardly absorbs infrared ray.
 24. The method of claim 23,wherein the ink is a black oil ink, and the main information is printedin a Near-K ink that comprises an ink hardly absorbing infrared ray. 25.The method of claim 19, wherein each graphical micro-unit is printed ina fluorescent ink, and the main information is printed in a typical oilink.
 26. The method of claim 14, wherein the surface of the objectcomprises multiple index zones, each index zone corresponding to oneindex value, and multiple identical graphical indicators are arranged ineach index zone.
 27. The method of claim 18, wherein the object is aplane vehicle and the graphical indicator is affixed onto the surface ofthe plane vehicle by printing.
 28. The method of claim 18, wherein thegraphical indicator is recorded in a vehicle that is affixed onto thesurface of the object.
 29. A processing system comprising: a surface ofan object including multiple index zones, multiple visually negligiblegraphical indicators are arranged in each index zone; and an electronicsystem comprising an optical device for capturing a selected zone on thesurface of the object by a user, the optical device capturing an imagefrom the selected zone, the electronic system retrieving the graphicalindicators from the image and producing an response by using anadditional information corresponding to one graphic indicator.
 30. Theprocessing system of claim 29, wherein each graphical indicatorcomprises a plurality of graphical micro-units arranged in a layout, thelayout corresponds to an indicator information, the processing deviceanalyses the layout of the graphical micro-units to retrieve theindicator information and further to acquire the additional informationfrom the indicator information.
 31. The processing system of claim 30,wherein the surface of the object comprises a main information thatoverlaps and co-exists with the graphical micro-units on the surface ofthe object, wherein the graphical micro-units are negligible when theuser observes the main information.
 32. The processing system of claim31, wherein each graphical indicators comprises a plurality of statezones for selectively respectively storing the graphical micro-units,and each state zone displays a state from at least two candidate states.33. The processing system of claim 29, wherein each graphical indicatoroccupies very small amount of area, and each graphical micro-unitoccupies very small amount of area, and number of graphical micro-unitsof each graphical indicator is substantially equal to each other. 34.The processing system of claim 32, wherein each square centimeter of theselected zone includes more than 3000 state zones of which less thanseventy percent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupiedby the graphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 35. Theprocessing system of claim 32, wherein each square centimeter of theselected zone includes more than 6000 state zones of which less thanseventy percent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupiedby the graphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 36. Theprocessing system of claim 32, wherein the candidate states comprise afirst state and a second state, as in the first state, the state zoneincludes one graphical micro-unit, and as in the second state, the statezone does not include the graphical micro-unit.
 37. The processingsystem of claim 36, wherein the state zones are arranged in atwo-dimensional matrix form and the graphical indicator comprises aheader information and a content information, the plurality of headerinformation are identical among different graphical indicators.
 38. Theprocessing system of claim 31 wherein each graphical micro-unit isprinted in an ink that substantially absorbs infrared ray, and the maininformation is printed in an ink that hardly absorbs infrared ray, andthe optical device emits infrared ray onto the surface of the object andthen receives a response image from the surface of the object as theimage.
 39. The processing system of claim 38, wherein the ink is a blackoil ink, while the main information is printed in a Near-K ink thatcomprises an ink hardly absorbing infrared ray.
 40. The processingsystem of claim 31, wherein each graphical micro-unit is printed in afluorescent ink, and the main information is printed in a typical oilink, the optical device emitting ultraviolet ray or blue ray onto thesurface of the object and then receiving a response image from thesurface of the object as the image.
 41. The processing system of claim29, wherein the surface of the object comprises multiple index zones,each index zone corresponds to one index value, and multiple identicalgraphical indicators are arranged in each index zone.
 42. The processingsystem of claim 29, wherein the response comprises outputting theadditional information to the user.
 43. The processing system of claim29 further comprising a response system for receiving the additionalinformation to implement the response.
 44. An electronic apparatuscomprising: an optical-reading device for capturing an image from aselected zone on a surface of an object by a user, emitting infrared rayto the surface of the object, and then receiving a response image fromthe surface of the object as the image, the image comprising a graphicalindicator that is visually negligible and is affixed onto the surface ofthe object, the graphical indicator comprising a plurality of statezones for selectively respectively storing a plurality of graphicalmicro-units, and each state zone displaying a state from at least twocandidate states; an image-processing circuit coupled to theoptical-reading device and used to retrieve the image from the graphicalindicator and acquire an additional information corresponding to thegraphical indicator; and an output circuit being coupled to theimage-processing circuit and outputting the additional information;wherein the surface of the object comprises multiple index zones, eachindex zone corresponds to one index value, and multiple identicalgraphical indicators are arranged in each index zone, the surface of theobject further comprises a main information that overlaps and co-existswith the graphical micro-units on the surface of the object, and thegraphical micro-units are negligible when the user observes the maininformation, and each graphical micro-unit is printed in an ink thatsubstantially absorbs infrared ray, and the main information is printedin an ink that hardly absorbs infrared ray.
 45. The electronic apparatusof claim 44, wherein the candidate states comprise a first state and asecond state, as in the first state, the state zone includes onegraphical micro-unit, and as in the second state, the state zone doesnot include the graphical micro-unit.
 46. The electronic apparatus ofclaim 45, wherein the state zones are arranged in a two-dimensionalmatrix form and the graphical indicator comprises a header informationand a content information, the plurality of header information areidentical among different graphical indicators.
 47. The electronicapparatus of claim 46, wherein the ink is a black oil ink, while themain information is printed in a Near-K ink that comprises an ink hardlyabsorbing infrared ray.
 48. The electronic apparatus of claim 47,further comprising a mapping unit indicating mapping relationship of theindicator information and the additional information, theimage-processing circuit being coupled to the mapping unit to retrieveone additional information corresponding to the indicator information.49. The electronic apparatus of claim 47 further comprising a mappingunit indicating mapping relationship of the indicator information andthe additional information, the mapping unit retrieves one additionalinformation corresponding to the indicator information.
 50. Theelectronic apparatus of claim 44, wherein the additional informationcomprises a multi-media information and the output circuit outputs themulti-media to the user.
 51. The electronic apparatus of claim 44,wherein the graphical indicator is recorded in a vehicle that is affixedonto the surface of the object.
 52. A memory vehicle comprising: anindicator information; an additional information; and mappingrelationship of the indicator information and the additionalinformation; wherein the indicator information corresponds to agraphical indicator that comprises a plurality of state zones forselectively respectively storing a plurality of graphical micro-units,each state zone displays a state from at least two candidate states, asurface of an object comprises multiple index zones, each index zonecorresponds to one index value, and multiple identical graphicalindicators are arranged in each index zone, and the surface of theobject further comprises main information that overlaps and co-existswith the graphical micro-units that are negligible when a user observesthe main information.
 53. An image-processing circuit comprising: adigital-signal-processing chip coupled to a memory vehicle and used forcapturing a graphical indicator from an image and retrieving additionalinformation corresponding to the graphical indicator; wherein thegraphical indicator comprises a plurality of state zones for selectivelyrespectively storing a plurality of graphical micro-units, and each thestate zone displays a state from at least two candidate states, and thedigital-signal-processing chip analyzes a layout of the graphicalmicro-units to retrieve the plurality of indicator information andfurther to acquire the additional information.
 54. A coordinatepositioning system allowing a user to make positioning action over asurface of an object, said surface including a main information,comprising: a coordinate system, implemented over said surface,including multiple coordinate zones, each coordinate zone including atleast a visually negligible graphical indicator, said graphicalindicator including multiple graphical micro-units co-existing with themain information over the surface without interference with the maininformation, multiple graphical micro-units being arranged in a layoutin the graphical indicator, the layout corresponding to an indicatorinformation indicating a coordinate value of each coordinate zone; and adevice for capturing the layout from the graphical indicator, retrievingthe coordinate value responsive to said layout, and providing a responsein response to the coordinate value.
 55. The coordinate positioningsystem of claim 54, wherein the graphical indicator comprises aplurality of state zones for selectively respectively storing thegraphical micro-units, wherein each of the state zones displays a statefrom at least two candidate states, combination of states in eachgraphical indicator is different from combination of states in onedifferent graphical indicator.
 56. The coordinate positioning system ofclaim 55, wherein the candidate states comprise a first state and asecond state, as in the first state, the state zone includes onegraphical micro-unit, and as in the second state, the state zone doesnot include the graphical micro-unit.
 57. The coordinate positioningsystem of claim 56, wherein the state zones are arranged in atwo-dimensional matrix form and the graphical indicator comprises aheader information and a content information, the plurality of headerinformation are identical among different graphical indicators.
 58. Thecoordinate positioning system of claim 57, wherein each graphicalmicro-unit is printed in an ink that substantially absorbs infrared ray,and the main information is printed in an ink that hardly absorbsinfrared ray, and the optical device emits infrared ray onto the surfaceof the object and then receives a response image from the surface of theobject as the image.
 59. The coordinate positioning system of claim 58,wherein the ink is a black oil ink, while the main information isprinted in a Near-K ink that hardly absorb infrared ray.
 60. Thecoordinate positioning system of claim 58 wherein each graphicalmicro-unit is printed in a fluorescent ink, and the main information isprinted in a typical oil ink, the optical device emitting ultravioletray or blue ray onto the surface of the object and then receiving aresponse image from the surface of the object as the image.
 61. Thecoordinate positioning of claim 56, wherein each square centimeter ofthe selected zone includes more than 3000 state zones of which less thanseventy percent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupiedby the graphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than
 80. 62. Thecoordinate positioning of claim 56, wherein each square centimeter ofthe selected zone includes more than 6000 state zones of which less thanseventy percent are in the second state, and percentage of area occupiedby the graphical micro-unit in the state zone is less than 80.